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**Bunkerbarge** · 26-06-2008

At this point in the construction the model was destined for display at a model engineering exhibition so it was decided that a more appropriate stand would be required to display it at its best. The stand used so far in the construction was simply made from the profiles supplied with the plan to produce two upright supports made from sections of teak plank. These were cut to shape, spaced with suitable dowels and attached to risers to give a slightly more appealing design as well as lifting the model a little bit higher off the base board.

The base was simply a piece of laminated pine board, varnished, with a block of teak fitted for the name plate. Felt pads were added to the tops of the profiles to protect the hull and a brass name plate was added to the teak block. This proved to be a suitable stand for working on the model and would later form the basis of a carrying box but it was not the best for display purposes.

It is often the case with model boats that the stand is not given the attention it deserves. It is the means of displaying your model to it’s best so it should enhance the model, look professional and present the model at it’s best. One of the most impressive methods of presenting a model ship, and precisely why it is used in museums the world over, is to place the model on pillars. This allows the model to be elevated to a level that allows easy views of the entire hull and presents it as an object free of it’s base. There are many ways of interpreting the pillar design but one of the most widely used and one of the most attractive is to use brass pillars on a polished wooden base.

The first piece to obtain was a suitable piece of teak to form the base. This was procured from a ships wood store, and even then required laminating to produce a piece of the required size, and was cut to size and thickness before a router was run along the edges of the base to finish it off. This base was then given three coats of a polyurethane varnish, rubbing down between coats to give an extremely durable and waterproof finish.

Next the attentions were turned to the pillars and the best method of design. The idea was to come up with a simple yet elegant design that could be easily produced on a model making lathe. The final configuration was generated from 25mm round bar stock, taken down to two smaller diameters with a tool profiled to give a similar radius at either end of the cuts. In this way a single tool could be used for the entire process, generating a simple pillar that complemented the complexity of the finished model.

Four pillars would be used, two along the keel and two across the midships section so stock brass was prepared for the machining. When all four pillars were turned, drilled and tapped to M8 in the base and parted off the top faces were machined to give exactly the correct heights to support the model evenly. The final machining process was to mill a slot across the top face of the two pillars that were to hold the keel of a suitable height and depth to locate the keel. Once the machining was completed all four pillars were sent away to a local metal finishers to be polished to a high degree.

On their return the base was marked out for the four positions and drilled, then counter bored to clear the heads of the M8 screws, before fitting the pillars in place and lining up the slots in the centre line pillars.

A final finishing touch to protect the hull detail from the pillar was to cut to size pieces of balsa wood, glue them to the tops of the pillars and paint them black with some enamel paint. This provides a degree of cushion for the weight of the model and protects the surface of the hull from abrasion and scratches.

Finally the name plate was stolen from the building stand and fitted to the display stand to finish it off.

The materials and techniques used in the stand are available to the majority of model makers with a reasonably equipped workshop however if such equipment is not available then alternatives can be sourced for the various components. The most important considerations are to make a stand, within your available resources, that will present the model at it’s best and look as good as you can make it.